Atonement
by Roxie Zephyr Jocelyn
Summary: Looking at his grave, Kallen couldn't help but wonder. Like Lelouch, had they been condemned?


A/N: This was a drabble that ran away, and became a one-shot; therefore, it had been done drabble-style. The fascinating characters of Code Geass do not belong to me but to their esteemed creator. With that, ENJOY!

Atonement

Staring at the colours that varied as the light filtered from the crystal glass above, Kallen couldn't help the thought that this humble tombstone, which was black at a single glance that glimmered black, silver, violet and indigo upon closer inspection, was a more fitting symbol for the young man they had buried; infinitely more fitting than the grand orchestrated parade of a funeral march.

Lelouch may have been the Demon Emperor, but before that, he had always been a boy with the simple wish for happiness.

As they stood around the grave, hollow and empty like their victory, every single face displayed an unfathomable sorrow. This was their time to mourn the man that Ougi and Toudou had considered a leader, and their time to weep for the young man that Tianzi and Kaguya had perceived to be their hope. It was their time to drown in agonizing guilt and grief for the boy that Nunnally had loved as her dearest brother. Even "Zero", Kallen was certain would be wearing a similar expression behind his tinted mask, a twisted face of tumultuous emotions that adorned Kallen's own features.

Lelouch had lied to them, betrayed them. He had driven them away with venomous words, had kept them away with torturous actions. They were supposed to be glad that he had died, hated, isolated – completely alone.

Yet, they were not.

And, Kallen couldn't help but wonder. Was it merely irony, or had Fate decided to intervene? For it was indeed ironical that the one plan Lelouch had hidden from them all, the one plan that he had failed to explain, was the only one that everyone had seen through and understood. Lelouch had been a brilliant individual, a complex mix of careful calculative intellect and reckless cunning; thus, his plans were most often a profound mix of ingenuity and insanity. Even when he had patiently clarified his strategies with them, not a single one of them had ever had a clear vision of the picture he wanted so vividly to paint. However, the single tactic he had kept entirely to himself, deliberately lying to them to conceal his every intention, was the one plan that everyone had seen through, had understood with no explanation at all.

Even Ougi had questioned Lelouch's death, had wondered at the suspicious nature in which Lelouch had opened himself up to his executioner. Ougi was not a fool; however, his direct perception of goodness, his blinding innocence that gave birth to the nobility, honour and loyalty in his actions, often confounded him whenever he was presented with Lelouch's brilliantly skewed logic on justice and victory. Even Ougi, the man who was so far removed from the tainted view that coloured Lelouch's world, had noticed the flaw in the Zero Requiem. Was it a mistake on Lelouch's part, a mistake so damaging that even the one most removed from him had noticed?

Or did Ougi spot the flaw simply because he had recognized the nobility in Lelouch's sacrifice, the selflessness in his final act of martyrdom?

It was something that Kallen would never know. This was a stark contrast to another fact that she was absolutely certain about – Lelouch's plan had failed. A new world of peace had been created. They were supposed to be enjoying the euphoric tranquility, living in the dawning bliss. They were supposed to rejoice in the death of the tyrannical Demon Emperor, rejoice that Lelouch had been punished the way he deserved, that he had died rejected, isolated, loathed and completely alone.

Instead, they now stood around his grave, hating the joyful tranquility that had been bought at a price too high. Their happiness, their victory, their freedom - they had lost it all. Lelouch's plan had failed. He had not died alone.

A part of them had died with him.

Kallen's hands tightened at her sides, a single tear slipping past her guard. This yawning emptiness, this clawing hollowness – was this punishment? Were they being punished for killing, spilling the blood of innocents, paving their paths with crimson bricks of sin, guilt and murder?

Like Lelouch, had they been condemned? If so, how could they be freed?

The manipulation, the betrayals, the lies, the guilt – that was the cross Lelouch had borne, the cross which became the marker of his grave.

Lelouch had died to atone for his sins.

The agony, the grief, the immense suffering, the soul-shattering sorrow – this was the living burden of a secret that would never be told; a truth that would never be unveiled.

And, Kallen knew.

This was their atonement.


End file.
